diff --git a/buildutils.py b/buildutils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83c18a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buildutils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,268 @@
+"""Detect zmq version"""
+#
+#    Copyright (c) 2011 Min Ragan-Kelley
+#
+#    This file is part of pyzmq, copied and adapted from h5py.
+#    h5py source used under the New BSD license
+#
+#    h5py: <http://code.google.com/p/h5py/>
+#    BSD license: <http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php>
+#
+#    pyzmq is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+#    the terms of the Lesser GNU General Public License as published by
+#    the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
+#    (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#    pyzmq is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#    Lesser GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#    You should have received a copy of the Lesser GNU General Public License
+#    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+import shutil
+import sys
+import os
+import logging
+import pickle
+from distutils import ccompiler
+from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
+
+try:
+    from configparser import ConfigParser
+except:
+    from ConfigParser import ConfigParser
+
+pjoin = os.path.join
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Logging (adapted from h5py: http://h5py.googlecode.com)
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+logger = logging.getLogger()
+logger.addHandler(logging.StreamHandler(sys.stderr))
+
+def debug(what):
+    pass
+
+def fatal(instring, code=1):
+    logger.error("Fatal: "+instring)
+    exit(code)
+
+def warn(instring):
+    logger.error("Warning: "+instring)
+
+
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Utility functions (adapted from h5py: http://h5py.googlecode.com)
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def detect_zmq(basedir, **compiler_attrs):
+    """Compile, link & execute a test program, in empty directory `basedir`.
+    
+    The C compiler will be updated with any keywords given via setattr.
+    
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    
+    basedir : path
+        The location where the test program will be compiled and run
+    **compiler_attrs : dict
+        Any extra compiler attributes, which will be set via ``setattr(cc)``.
+    
+    Returns
+    -------
+    
+    A dict of properties for zmq compilation, with the following two keys:
+    
+    vers : tuple
+        The ZMQ version as a tuple of ints, e.g. (2,2,0)
+    options : dict
+        The compiler options used to compile the test function, e.g. `include_dirs`,
+        `library_dirs`, `libs`, etc.
+    """
+
+    cc = ccompiler.new_compiler()
+    for name, val in compiler_attrs.items():
+        setattr(cc, name, val)
+
+    cfile = pjoin(basedir, 'vers.c')
+    efile = pjoin(basedir, 'vers')
+
+    f = open(cfile, 'w')
+    try:
+        f.write(
+r"""
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include "zmq.h"
+
+int main(){
+    unsigned int major, minor, patch;
+    zmq_version(&major, &minor, &patch);
+    fprintf(stdout, "vers: %d.%d.%d\n", major, minor, patch);
+    return 0;
+}
+""")
+    finally:
+        f.close()
+
+    if sys.platform == 'darwin':
+        # allow for missing UB arch, since it will still work:
+        preargs = ['-undefined', 'dynamic_lookup']
+    else:
+        preargs = None
+
+    objs = cc.compile([cfile])
+    cc.link_executable(objs, efile, extra_preargs=preargs)
+
+    result = Popen(efile, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
+    so, se = result.communicate()
+    # for py3k:
+    so = so.decode()
+    se = se.decode()
+    if result.returncode:
+        msg = "Error running version detection script:\n%s\n%s" % (so,se)
+        logging.error(msg)
+        raise IOError(msg)
+
+    handlers = {'vers':     lambda val: tuple(int(v) for v in val.split('.'))}
+
+    props = {}
+    for line in (x for x in so.split('\n') if x):
+        key, val = line.split(':')
+        props[key] = handlers[key](val)
+
+    props['options'] = compiler_attrs
+    return props
+
+def localpath(*args):
+    plist = [os.path.dirname(__file__)]+list(args)
+    return os.path.abspath(pjoin(*plist))
+
+def loadpickle(name):
+    """ Load object from pickle file, or None if it can't be opened """
+    name = pjoin('conf', name)
+    try:
+        f = open(name,'rb')
+    except IOError:
+        # raise
+        return None
+    try:
+        return pickle.load(f)
+    except Exception:
+        # raise
+        return None
+    finally:
+        f.close()
+
+def savepickle(name, data):
+    """ Save to pickle file, exiting if it can't be written """
+    if not os.path.exists('conf'):
+        os.mkdir('conf')
+    name = pjoin('conf', name)
+    try:
+        f = open(name, 'wb')
+    except IOError:
+        fatal("Can't open pickle file \"%s\" for writing" % name)
+    try:
+        pickle.dump(data, f, 0)
+    finally:
+        f.close()
+
+def v_str(v_tuple):
+    """turn (2,0,1) into '2.0.1'."""
+    return ".".join(str(x) for x in v_tuple)
+
+def get_eargs():
+    """ Look for options in environment vars """
+
+    settings = {}
+
+    zmq = os.environ.get("ZMQ_DIR", '')
+    if zmq != '':
+        debug("Found environ var ZMQ_DIR=%s" % zmq)
+        settings['zmq'] = zmq
+
+    return settings
+
+def get_cfg_args():
+    """ Look for options in setup.cfg """
+
+    settings = {}
+    zmq = ''
+    if not os.path.exists('setup.cfg'):
+        return settings
+    cfg = ConfigParser()
+    cfg.read('setup.cfg')
+    if 'build_ext' in cfg.sections() and \
+                cfg.has_option('build_ext', 'include_dirs'):
+        includes = cfg.get('build_ext', 'include_dirs')
+        include = includes.split(os.pathsep)[0]
+        if include.endswith('include') and os.path.isdir(include):
+            zmq = include[:-8]
+    if zmq != '':
+        debug("Found ZMQ=%s in setup.cfg" % zmq)
+        settings['zmq'] = zmq
+
+    return settings
+
+def get_cargs():
+    """ Look for global options in the command line """
+    settings = loadpickle('buildconf.pickle')
+    if settings is None:  settings = {}
+    for arg in sys.argv[:]:
+        if arg.find('--zmq=') == 0:
+            zmq = arg.split('=')[-1]
+            if zmq.lower() == 'default':
+                settings.pop('zmq', None)
+            else:
+                settings['zmq'] = zmq
+            sys.argv.remove(arg)
+    savepickle('buildconf.pickle', settings)
+    return settings
+
+def discover_settings():
+    """ Discover custom settings for ZMQ path"""
+    settings = get_cfg_args()       # lowest priority
+    settings.update(get_eargs())
+    settings.update(get_cargs())    # highest priority
+    return settings.get('zmq')
+
+def copy_and_patch_libzmq(ZMQ, libzmq):
+    """copy libzmq into source dir, and patch it if necessary.
+    
+    This command is necessary prior to running a bdist on Linux or OS X.
+    """
+    if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
+        return
+    # copy libzmq into zmq for bdist
+    local = localpath('zmq',libzmq)
+    if ZMQ is None and not os.path.exists(local):
+        fatal("Please specify zmq prefix via `setup.py configure --zmq=/path/to/zmq` "
+        "or copy libzmq into zmq/ manually prior to running bdist.")
+    try:
+        lib = pjoin(ZMQ, 'lib', libzmq)
+        print ("copying %s -> %s"%(lib, local))
+        shutil.copy(lib, local)
+    except Exception:
+        if not os.path.exists(local):
+            fatal("Could not copy libzmq into zmq/, which is necessary for bdist. "
+            "Please specify zmq prefix via `setup.py configure --zmq=/path/to/zmq` "
+            "or copy libzmq into zmq/ manually.")
+    finally:
+        # link libzmq.dylib -> libzmq.1.dylib
+        link = localpath('zmq',libzmq.replace('.1',''))
+        if not os.path.exists(link):
+            os.symlink(libzmq, link)
+    
+    if sys.platform == 'darwin':
+        # patch install_name on darwin, instead of using rpath
+        cmd = ['install_name_tool', '-id', '@loader_path/../%s'%libzmq, local]
+        try:
+            p = Popen(cmd, stdout=PIPE,stderr=PIPE)
+        except OSError:
+            fatal("install_name_tool not found, cannot patch libzmq for bundling.")
+        out,err = p.communicate()
+        if p.returncode:
+            fatal("Could not patch bundled libzmq install_name: %s"%err, p.returncode)
+